Diners Share Their Waiters From Hell Stories

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The Place Was Filthy, The Service Subpar, And Then There Was The Check...

"Me and my boyfriend love to eat Asian cuisine. We decided to go to a new Asian restaurant near where I live because we have both heard good news about it, and so we both assumed it was good... boy, were we wrong.

It all started when we came through the front doors of the place. There was only one other couple eating there -- it was practically empty, but there were no hosts to seat us for about 10 minutes, until we both decided to go to the kitchen and ask in a firm tone, 'We'd like to be seated, please!' Turns out, all the employees were together, gathered in the kitchen, having some long conversation instead of tending to customers.

We were finally seated, and shortly afterward the waitress took our orders. Half an hour had passed while we were waiting for our food, and by this time only my boyfriend had received his food.

On a side note, we both saw ants, flies, and mosquitoes crawl and buzz around the place on multiple occasions.

By the time my boyfriend had almost finished his food, I still hadn't received my order. I went up to our waitress, politely saying, 'Excuse me, I had ordered food quite some time ago, and I was wondering if it was ready yet.' The waitress seemed confused and asked me, 'You ordered something?'

A bit angered by what she said, I told her, 'Yes, I did, I ordered...' and I told her what I had wanted. She told me that she was going to get my meal started and delivered to me as soon as possible.

After my boyfriend had finished his meal, the waitress then brought us our drinks which were just cans of warm pop, with no ice to go with the cups she gave us. I asked her if we could have ice; she agreed to do so but never brought us any.

By the time we both got sick of sipping on our warm drinks, we decided to leave and I decided that I could just get my meal in a doggy bag. My boyfriend asked for the bill; it noted that I was charged for my meal that I didn't get. I went up to the same waitress and asked if my meal was even done yet. Again, she gave me a puzzled look, but then realized on the spot and spoke aloud, 'Oh! I forgot to tell the chef to make your meal! Do you want to wait a little bit longer?' I then told her to just forget it because I was tired of waiting.

I paid for my drink, and I told them that I was not going to pay for a meal that I did not get. The waitress was confused and a bit angered that I wasn't going to pay for something on the bill that wasn't given to me and even said that I would be charged with theft.

Really angered at this point, I told her to just 'go ahead and try' and both me and my boyfriend left the place.

"One night my boyfriend, my roommate and I decided to go out to dinner to a local steak and buffet restaurant. We each ordered entrées and sodas, placed the tickets on our table, and then went to the buffet line for some salads. When we returned, our tickets were still on the table. No big deal, the waitress must be busy. By the time we had finished our salads, the waitress walked by and grabbed our tickets without saying a word. She was about 5'8" (with the height from her mullet) and covered in tattoos.

After 10 minutes and no drinks, we finally flagged her down and she brought us our drinks---all wrong. We didn't bother telling her. We waited another twenty minutes for the entrees to arrive. Without a word, she put down my boyfriend's meal and my roommate's meal and walked away. Ugh... okay, maybe she doesn't know how to carry three plates, whatever. So I wait, but she didn't return with my meal. I flagged her down as she whipped by the table and asked her if my meal was coming out. The woman grabbed my arm, leaned down over me, got up right into my face and screeched, 'WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHIN' SOONER? I THOUGHT YOU AND I HAD AN UNDERSTANDIN'?' My eyes grew wide as I yanked my arm from her grasp. My boyfriend jumped up at that point and asked her what the heck she thought she was doing. She said that we knew each other and I should have said something sooner. I'd never met this lady before in my life.

The manager brought out my meal, cold by that point, and never said a word to apologize. As we're finishing our meal, the same waitress started busing the table next to ours. She knocked over a half glass of orange soda all over the table. Cursing like a sailor, she made a half-hearted attempt at cleaning it up. You could still see the soda glistening on the top of the table and soda was dripping down onto the chairs. A family came and sat down but before we could warn them, their son sat in a pool of the soda. Guess they didn't leave her a tip either."

"My boyfriend's mother took us, her other kids and their significant others, and her boyfriend (eight people total) to lunch as a celebration of us all being in town. She chose a large, notoriously busy, and pricey Italian place. We were all excited for some good quality food.

Our first issue was being seated at a table that was suited for a party smaller than ours. Our chairs were literally touching, the already set-out plates and glasses were extremely cramped, and we kept elbowing each other. But, whatever, we all get along and this place is PACKED. We were just glad that our reservation allowed us to sit down right away.

A few minutes after being seated, our waitress comes by and takes our drink orders. She brings one basket of bread with her and leaves it on the table. She disappears for at least 30 minutes. There was not enough bread to go around, of course, and we did not have anything to drink. Eventually she returns with the drinks and asks if we are ready to order. We are, and do so, as well as ask for another basket of bread. Now that she brought quickly, but then disappeared again.

When I say this place was packed, I mean it. It was 1pm on a Sunday and every table was full. We were prepared to wait for our food. In the next hour and a half we waited for it; we had to ask another server who was passing by to refill our drinks. When our food arrived, it was another, different server who brought it. A third unfamiliar face asked us a while later if everything was okay -- which it was, although nothing was piping hot when it was delivered to us. Fine, whatever, they are busy. We were chatting and eating happily.

Once we are all finished eating, our plates are cleared by a couple of different people; not sure if they had been to our table before. Twenty minutes later, my boyfriend's mom sees our original waitress for the first time in nearly two hours and asks for the check. She says she will be right back... well, another 20 minutes later, she comes back with it, and of course she is given a credit card immediately. She does come back with the card quickly this time, but proceeds to hover over the table. We ask for to-go bags.

At this point we have been seated for nearly four hours, the majority of it spent with no food/drinks or waiting for the check. We have seen our original waitress twice. My boyfriend's mom is a little frustrated, but hey we ate our food, even if it took a long time. She tips somewhere around 18%; I'm not sure exactly, but I know it was about a $35 tip. Pretty good for our original waitress considering she didn't do much if you ask me.

This is where we all got mad. This waitress is still hovering close to the table and snatches up the folder as soon as my boyfriend's mom puts it down. She OPENS IT and looks at her tip while standing behind his mom and says, very loudly, 'Are you freaking kidding me!!!' and stomps off to go talk loudly about how cheap we are to some of her coworkers. She brings the to-go bags back and literally throws them on the table, telling us to have a 'nice fricking day.'

So, we did. We had a lovely rest of the evening playing board games back at the house. I called the manager the next day and explained the situation. He sent $50 in gift cards to both me and my boyfriend's mother -- she did not feel comfortable calling him herself, but I did not feel comfortable doing nothing. We have yet to go back since this place is a bit off the beaten path for us, but hopefully when we do go again, our waitress won't be there."

"Some years ago my partner and I had our worst dining experience ever. I have a short memory for such things, but this one was so appalling, I still recall it vividly.

We chose to go to a moderately-expensive Italian eatery in the suburban area where we were living. We had eaten at this place on a few occasions before, and had never received bad food or service.

On this particular evening, it turned out to be rather busy; nevertheless we were soon seated at a table near the center of the large, open dining area. Our server, who looked like he might have been just barely old enough to drive, arrived at our table after just a minute, but from his expression and body language, it was immediately obvious to both of us that he had a problem waiting on two men who happen to be a couple. Mind you, we weren't holding hands or cooing at each other, and neither of us is a 'flaming queen,' but I guess when you've worked in hospitality for even a short time, you learn to spot who's 'together.'

Well, this kid must have had us pegged from across the dining room, and he made no effort whatsoever to conceal his contempt for us or his regret that we'd been seated in his section.

He took our order, and after that we never saw him again. Not to fill our water glasses, which quickly emptied as it was mid-summer, not to bring our drinks, not to bring our food when it was ready. All these were handled by various other (female) servers. While our waiter was attentive to the families and mixed-gender couples at adjacent tables, he studiously ignored us and went out of his way to avoid eye contact.

By the time our food arrived, our wine glasses were empty--and of course they stayed that way for the rest of the meal, since nobody ever checked on us (the other servers, I suppose, must have assumed our waiter was checking, which he did not).

After we finished eating, we sat for more than 45 minutes with our empty plates and glasses in front of us, scanning the crowded dining room for signs of a manager before finally catching the attention of a female server. We should have asked her to get a manager at that point, I know, but we were upset and tired and just wanted to get out of there, so we just handed her a credit card and asked her to bring the bill. We paid for our meal, but left no tip. This is the first and only time I've ever 'stiffed' a server. I have worked as a waiter before, and am normally a generous tipper, but I felt zero empathy for the schmuck who was supposed to have been our server that night.

On our way out, we did stop and speak with the manager, and let her know how upsetting it was to be discriminated against by her server.

If you're going to work with the public, you really must leave your personal prejudices at home!"

"A friend and I went to a well-known pancake house often, at least once a week. It was right down the street from our houses. We had a few issues in the past, but nothing to the extreme that we would never come back (obviously).

We came in one morning around 2 am just getting off work and decided to drink coffee and unwind. At this time of day there is no hostess, just a sign that says 'Seat Yourself.' We sat at our regular table in the back. By the way, we were the only 2 people in the dining room.

We must have sat there for 20 minutes before we even saw a server. She finally came over and said, 'What do you want to drink?'

My friend said, 'We will both have coffee, please.'

She turned and walked away without saying a word. When she came back 10 minutes later with our drinks I asked if we could have menus. She said, 'Why didn't you tell me that when I got your drink order?' like she was mad at us. We both looked at each other in shock and before I could say anything she walked away again. She slid the menus on the table almost like a toss and said, 'I'll be back.'

OK, when she said this, I thought she would give us time to look at the menus, but it was literally seconds later when she came back. She looked at my friend and said, 'What are you having?'

My friend looked at me then looked back at the waitress and said, "'I don't know, I haven't had time to look.'

She said, 'More time then?' in a sarcastic tone.

My friend said, 'Uh, yeah.' My friend was being kind of rude at this point. The server went to a table in the opposite corner and started to roll silverware. I'm guessing we came in towards the end of her shift; I don't know.

So anyways we both decide what we want within 5 minutes or so. About 15 minutes went by, we were obviously in no big hurry, a couple of chatty girls like ourselves can make some time pass, but I was really hungry, so I told my friend to close her menu so the server would get the hint. She closed her menu and more time passed. Did she get the hint? No.

So my friend said, 'We're ready.' She slammed the silverware on the table and came over. She got her paper and pen out and just stared at my friend. My friend said, 'OK, I guess I'll go first.' She ordered her food and then it's my turn; I was a little nervous at this point. This lady was flat-out mean. I order the same thing every time. It is an egg platter, but I do not like eggs. I eat the bacon, hash browns, and pancakes that come with the meal and my friend eats the eggs. No big deal.

So I said, 'Can I get my eggs scrambled with cheese on a separate plate?'

She said, 'Separate plate?'

I said, 'Yeah, I don't like eggs, so she eats them.'

Then she said, 'Well then you shouldn't get an egg platter, you should order a la carte.'

I really didn't want to argue with the woman, so I said, 'OK, if you could just leave the eggs on the platter and bring me an extra plate, please.' I was thinking why does it matter to you what I do. I wouldn't think it would be that hard to bring a small plate or even a saucer, something so my friend doesn't have to eat her eggs off the table. She was eating French toast, so there was no room on her plate.

About 30 minutes later, here she comes with our food and she puts it down and proceeded to walk away. I said, 'Excuse me, can I have an extra plate please?' She just kept walking. At this point my friend was mad. She got up and walked right up to the expo window and asked the cook for a plate.

The waitress must have heard her or the cook told her because she came from the back, very angry. I heard the kitchen door slam. Yikes. She came out and told my friend how rude she was and customers were not allowed in that area and we should pay our bill and leave. She went over to print our check and slammed it on the table. I was shocked!!

We got up to leave and I looked at the bill; she charged me al a carte for all of my food! My friend said, 'Let's just go, we didn't even take a bite.' Even after everything this crazy lady did I couldn't not pay the bill. The bill was $27.94 or something like that, I left $28 on the table.

I'm still in shock to this day. I have never seen anything like this. This lady was terrible!! Needless to say we found a different 24-hour diner to unwind at after work."

"A few years ago, my wife and I went to a comedy club in Toronto, ON for an evening that included a pre-show dinner. We showed up a few minutes early and were promptly seated by the manager of the club. We knew quite early in the evening we were in for a crappy night.

The waitress came to offer us menus and take drink orders after we had been waiting for about 15 minutes or so. There were only three other tables with people, and there were three waitresses and the manager working that night. She returned in a few minutes to take our orders and said she forgot the drinks and would be right back. Our food arrived in a reasonable amount of time and was quite tasty, other than my wife receiving the wrong side dish, which she ate anyway; but still no drinks. I got up and went to the bar to get my own drinks. About half way through our meal, the waitress came by and said once again she forgot our drinks and asked if we still wanted them. By this time, our first round of drinks were long gone and I ordered a second round.

Meal was now gone and the drink order -- round number two -- had still not arrived. I flagged over the manager. He came by, listened to my story and said he would be right back with the drinks; we never saw him again. The waitress never did ask if we wanted dessert. About 30 minutes later, the waitress came by and asked if we needed anything. I asked to have our plates removed, and reminded her that we were still waiting for our second order of drinks. This time she brought them in only a few minutes.

By now the comedy show had started and our drinks were once again empty. The waitress came over and asked if we needed another round. I said, 'Yes,' and also ordered a large popcorn (my wife loves popcorn). We reminded our waitress two more times about this 3rd round of drinks. At the end of the night, the 3rd round of drinks and the popcorn had never arrived, but our bill did. There was a total of four rounds of drinks, our meals, and the popcorn on the bill. I waved her back over and complained; she redid the bill correctly.

By this time, I was pretty upset with everything. I paid the bill in cash, down to the exact penny, and left her an even dollar for a tip. As I was walking away from the table, she very loudly scolded me about the insulting tip amount I had left and started to call me names. She was still mouthing off at me in front of the entire club while she walked back to the kitchen. I left without saying a word, keeping an eye out for the manager in the hope that I could file a complaint. The next day at work I did a little digging and found the phone number for the corporate head office. I had to leave a voicemail... I never did hear back from anyone."

"My boyfriend and I recently went to a little diner that was near our house. The place wasn't too busy, and we were seated as soon as we walk in, which was nice.

So it comes time to order. Our waitress was fairly young, probably in college, but so far she seemed really nice and had been back to our table already to refill our coffees.

My boyfriend ordered the Belgian waffle meal with hash browns and sausage. I went for the two pancake meal with hash browns and eggs. Now, a lot of places I've been to don't serve poached eggs, but I always like to ask if it hasn't already been stated on the menu because that's how I like my eggs.

I asked the girl if the eggs can be prepared poached. She gave me the blankest stare, not saying a word. Okay, they probably don't serve poached eggs then. So I told her that I'd like over easy eggs. 'Over easy? You just asked if we served "poached" eggs!' she said, a bit too loudly, making quotations with her fingers and all.

'Um, I just assumed you didn't serve poached eggs so -' She interrupted me, shushing me. I stared at her, surprised. I've never had a waitress shush me.

'I don't know what those are,' she said. I was a bit confused at this point. Poached eggs are pretty popular, aren't they? And even if they weren't, why did the waitress have to know exactly what I meant when I ordered something?

'They're just eggs that -' Shushed again.

'I'll go see if the chef makes "poached" eggs, whatever those are,' she mutters, quotation fingers back in action.

Did she think I was trying to trick her? Did she think poached eggs weren't a real thing and I was just wanting to give her a hard time? Did she think I wanted poached eggs as in eggs that had been illegally hunted?

She came back only a few minutes later. 'Yes, you can have poached eggs. Do you still want them?' she asked, sounding a bit annoyed still.

I should probably have just said no, since the topic of poached eggs was a rough one for this girl, but I ordered them anyway. The girl was probably just stressed from college or work, and I wasn't going to treat her poorly over poached eggs.

When our meal arrived, there were clearly fork marks in the two poached eggs like someone had stabbed them. Yolk was slowly dripping out of the four little puncture holes of my eggs. I could only assume the girl did this before getting them to me.

Other than the whole poached egg thing, I still really enjoyed the meal, and I tipped the girl well."

"A couple of months ago my husband and I were out running errands and decide to meet up with some friends at a local 'Mom & Pop' restaurant. These friends of ours had just ordered their lunches with their 9-month-old daughter when we arrived. My husband and I decided to just order a couple of sodas and desserts as we had a big breakfast earlier in the day and we explained to the waitress that our two orders would be on a separate ticket, which seemed to confuse her.

After we ordered, the waitress came back and apologized saying they were out of the pecan pie I had ordered. I changed my order to some specialty chocolate cake they had without much ado. A couple moments later our waitress arrives with the taco salad and melon plate my friend had ordered for herself and her daughter and just placed it in front of me without a word and breezed away. Then she circles back with drink refills and the remaining orders and notices a melon rind on the floor that had been accidentally dropped by the 9-month-old. She glares at the back of our friends' heads, scoops up the rind and storms off.

When it came time to pay, she brought our ticket and explained that she rang us up for the pecan pie I had ordered as it was less expensive than what I wanted in the first place, but we noticed that she charged us for our friend's taco salad. We pointed out the mix up and she snatched the bill up and flounced off. She came back with the new bill and my husband noticed that she rang up his dessert as 'a la mode,' which was about a dollar more expensive, and not what he ordered. He called her back over and explained the mistake and she proceeded to try and justify it by saying that if she would have rang up the bill with my chocolate cake and his correct dessert, it would have been the same total as the bill we currently had. My husband looked at her and said he thought she was cutting us a break on the bill because they didn't have what I wanted. The waitress just stared back at him, snatched the bill from his hand, stormed off, and started shouting across the entire restaurant, 'THEN I'M CHARGING YOU FULL PRICE FOR HER DESSERT!!!'

Everyone in the restaurant stared at her, then at us. I was so embarrassed by the spectacle she made us into that I just wanted to leave. That was the first time I did not leave a tip."

"My girlfriend and I attempted to eat at a restaurant we used to frequent when we first started dating. We went for lunch. They were pretty slow; just an elderly couple, a family with a baby, and another couple who came in with us. When we went in, we were told to sit wherever we wanted, so we sat in full view of the staff.

Ten minutes in and we had watched our waitress chat with the elderly couple and play with the baby. At the 15 minute mark, we saw her look at us while trying to flag her down, then turn on her heels and go into the kitchen. At 20 minutes, we watched her walk out of the restaurant while on her cell phone. The other waitress went as far as to ignore us as we called out to her just so we could get our drinks.

So after a half hour, my girlfriend and I decided we'd waited long enough and got up to leave. As we were walking out, the cashier stopped us and told us that we needed to pay. I pointed out we didn't get anything. I was then told that they heard me ask for drinks. I told them if I had even gotten that, then they'd have my patronage."

"Many years ago, my parents and I went to a popular pancake chain for dinner. This particular location was known for its poor service, but nothing like this one night. We were seated by a very disgruntled waitress who took our drink orders and stormed to the kitchen.

There was only one other table with people at it: two women and a sleeping baby. We started talking, and they said they were hoping they'd get something to eat before the baby woke up.

The drinks my family ordered never came. We waited... and waited... and waited... and never heard from anyone. Sure enough, the baby woke up and started bawling its eyes out. But that is not what makes this a dinner from hell...

My father, after almost an hour, got up to see what's going on. He found our waitress outside the restaurant yelling, 'I QUIT! I QUIT! I QUIT!' and tearing off her uniform, followed by a long stream of obscenities. And after what was apparently the only waitress on duty quits, no one approached us to tell us what happened or to take our food order. We simply left and advised the women with the baby to do the same. Never been back to this pancake place ever since."

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